Spring

18
Individual Study Plan
Maria Carlson
BA in Community, Environment, and Planning
Minor in Environmental Science and Resource Management

Maria Carlson | Individual Study Plan

Letter of Introduction
Before I stepped onto the University of Washington campus, I had known for a long time
that my passion for understanding environmental issues would drive me towards an
education and career in the field. Beginning in elementary school, I learned about the
salmon life cycle and the species’ significance to ecosystem health. We had a 30-gallon
fish tank in our hallway commons where we raised salmon eggs and watched them hatch
into Alveins, and then released them weeks later as fry into a local river. When I was 13, I
decided to become a vegetarian because I had learned about concentrated animal feeding
operations (CAFOs) and the problems that accompany meat production, including gross
fossil fuel consumption, pollution runoff, and ethical implications. In high school, the
most influential class I took was AP Environmental Science. During one activity, I
remember calculating my individual carbon footprint and realizing the gap between my
environmental impact and that of the average individual in other countries. We studied
the social and political problems of this and other topics including non-renewable
energies, ocean acidification, over-consumption, and, most importantly, explored
proposed solutions to these challenges. In the entirety of my education, this was the only
class that made me feel the most despair and optimism at the same time. From then on, I
knew that I wanted to continue my education in this field and ultimately implement
solutions to environmental challenges.

My first two years at the UW consisted of classes in a range of disciplines, with the
ultimate goal of an education that would deliver me into the field of sustainability. The
foundational courses I took during this time, including biology, microeconomics,
philosophy, calculus, and chemistry, provided me with framework for understanding
environmental problems in different technical contexts. As a part of these courses, I
conducted my own research project to understand the scientific process, studied supply-
demand scenarios and economic incentivization, learned about biological evolutionary
processes and how they are influenced by environmental factors, and examined
contemporary research on sustainable practices. These classes and projects stressed the
interconnectivity of environmental problems and importance of taking a more holistic
approach address these issues.

In the following two years, I narrowed my educational focus toward sustainable urban
development by taking classes that focused on community engagement, digital skills
proficiency, and socio-economic practicality as drivers for change.

The Community, Environment, and Planning (CEP) major has taught me how to organize
and enrich community relations proactively. The foundation of the CEP major is student
leadership and decision-making, requiring all members to participate in weekly
governance meetings and departmental policy development. During my first year in CEP, I
joined the Alumni Relations Committee (ARC), where I successfully organized and
facilitated CEP alumni panel events and in my second quarter, became the committee

Maria Carlson | Individual Study Plan

point. As the point of ARC, I led and compiled notes of quarterly goals, planned a
schedule of actions and designated tasks to committee members to achieve our goals, and
used our weekly meetings to touch base and support committee projects. In my senior
year, I joined the Headlights committee where I participated in student-led curriculum
development. Here, I collaborated with the CEP program director, course professor, and
students to establish the needs and constraints of each party, in order to constructively
create a course plan. In addition, we created long-term visioning goals to ensure that the
work we began would continue into future quarters. The structure of this program has
provided me with an effective example of how to create a collaborative, supportive, and
reflective learning community.

Outside of CEP, I volunteered as an outreach ambassador with the Campus Sustainability

Fund, a student-funded, student-run grant organization. As an outreach ambassador, I
promoted the opportunities provided by the CSF to fund student-led sustainability projects
on campus. I presented in classrooms to students and professors, interviewed student
project leaders and alumni, and wrote articles for the CSF Webpage. This experience
developed my public speaking and presentation skills to engage the University community
in this exciting opportunity.

During my junior year, I took several courses in GIS and its intersection with
environmental planning and analysis. This developed my computational literacy to the
point where I am proficient in GIS analysis tools and established my ability to create
visually appealing, statistically-comprehensive deliverables. This carried over into my
summer internship at Anchor QEA. Here, I learned about the ins-and-outs of consulting
and furthered my technical abilities by working with large amounts of geospatial data,
creating analyses based on project direction, and producing statistical summaries of my
results. This work emphasized troubleshooting, collaboration, and quantitative
proficiency.

To develop my socio-economic comprehension, I took classes about marketing and

management from a sustainability perspective, environmental conflict management, and
urban planning, and in the fall of 2017, I studied abroad in Italy where I learned about the
culture and politics of food systems. These courses and experiences enhanced my
knowledge of organizational strategies, structures, and incentives, underlying power
dynamics, and the equity and disproportionality of environmental and economic
consequences.

To culminate my undergraduate academic curriculum, I chose to incorporate the

environmental, analytical, and interpersonal facets of my studies into my capstone
research project. My research focused on comparing the way environmental issues are
constructed between ideologically-opposed media conglomerates, through the evaluation
of issue-frameworks and appeals to moral foundations. From this project, I gained
experience conducting critical communications analysis, further understood my own
ideological perspective, and critically examined how persuasive arguments are composed

Maria Carlson | Individual Study Plan

on multimedia platforms. This project peaked my interest in public engagement,

communications, and outreach. As a result, I hope to use my knowledge and experiences
gained through my undergraduate career to pursue this field.

Courses | Descriptions and Objectives

Maria Carlson | Individual Study Plan

2016 — 2018
Autumn and Spring
CEP 300 CEP Retreat (Core)
“Focuses on planning analysis assessment and development of the major. Opportunities
for community building and all-major policy deliberation and decisions. Workshops for
skill building in consensus, facilitation, and for major-specific activities such as
developing individual study plans and study abroad experiences.”

The main focus of retreat is to build the connections between students and professors
while making community decisions about the goals of the major. The retreat includes
forums on committee development, learning community development, and individual
learning goals. The retreat introduces the community-driven nature of the major to the
incoming cohort, and fosters the continued, dynamic development of the major.

Autumn, Winter, and Spring

CEP 400 Governance Practicum (Core)
“Emphasizes personal and collective leadership, democratic decision making, and
learning through direct action and reflection. Explores and develops students' personal
skills as doers and leaders, while also learning how to form and function as effective
groups.”

During governance, I have taken on many opportunities to facilitate class discussion,

through student group presentations and activities, along with leading an alumni panel.
Additionally, this course provides a learning framework for community organization, and
how to be a productive and active member of that community.

Maria Carlson | Individual Study Plan

Autumn 2016
CEP 301 The Idea of Community (Core)
“Theories of community and communal rights and responsibilities. Experience building a
learning community within major. Explores struggles for community in every sector of
life.”

The topic of this course focused on the foundations of western political thought,
communism, and anarchy through studying the original texts of philosophers. As a class,
we discussed the modern context of these political ideologies and analyzed each
philosophers’ intent. In addition, each class member taught a class session to practice
group facilitation strategies.

ESRM 325 Environmental Applications of Plants: Bioenergy and Bioremediation (Minor)

“Explores current topics in forest bioresources with an emphasis on bioenergy,
remediation of pollutants, and carbon sequestration.”

The field of phytoremediation—the use of plants to take up pollution, and bioenergy—

renewable energy alternatives from biomass, provide many examples of viable and
environmentally sound models that address global climate change problems.

ESRM 429 Environmental Science and Resource Management Seminar (Minor)

“Weekly presentations covering environmental topics by scientists on and off campus.”

This seminar course presented a wide range of new and up and coming research topics in
the field of environmental work. This course provided me with some insight about the
focus of research, and areas where research could be developed more.

ESRM 250 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems in Forest Resources

(General)
“Applications of GIS technology to forest science and management. Fundamentals of GIS
systems: data sources, preprocessing, map analysis, output; remote sensing as a source of
GIS data, image analysis, and classification. Emphasis on GIS as a source of management
and technical information requests.”

Knowing how to navigate through geographic information system programs is a very

practical skill in many fields. Throughout the quarter, I studied GIS through the lens of
environmental topics, and learned a range of tools that include vector and raster analysis,
model building, finding data, and geo-referencing.

Maria Carlson | Individual Study Plan

Winter 2017
CEP 302 Environmental Response (Core)
“Explores issues of environmental crisis and societal responses. Readings and reflective
analysis to develop grounded perspective in ecological literacy and consciousness.
Concurrently, experiential education in challenges and practical responses to building
sustainable society through participation in community-based environmental effort.”

This course has helped me develop critical thought about environmental research. This
course taught me about fundamental scientific principles and environmental policy
implementation. As a class, we analyzed the effectiveness of scientific knowledge and
policy using case studies of environmental health disaster and response. This class
exposed me to the factor of environmental justice that is succeed or fail among the
communities it want to continue to familiarize myself with the scientific process and
understand the effects of environmental problems in communities. This class will help me
develop the knowledge of the scientific and social qualities involved with environmental
work.

Q SCI 381 Introduction to Probability and Statistics (Methods)

“Applications to biological and natural resource problems stressing the formulation and
interpretation of statistical tests. Random variables, expectations, variances, binomial,
hypergeometric, Poisson, normal, chi-square, "t" and "F" distributions.”

This is the first course in a series of quantitative analysis courses where I will build my
fundamental knowledge of statistics. Quantitative analysis is extremely important to
convey the validity of data-backed research. It is especially important in advancing the
interests of environmentally sound practices.

ESRM 430 Remote Sensing of the Environment (Minor/Methods)

“Focuses on hyperspatial remote sensing fundamentals, interpretation and manipulation of
aerial photography, satellite imagery, and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). Uses
traditional and 'state of the art' image processing techniques. Students learn to evaluate
available hyperspatial remote sensing data sources and design simple projects related to
environmental applications.”

This remote sensing class has further my understanding of analytical methods used for
environmental data collection, and allowed me to utilize remote sensing technology and
programs to run my own analysis.

ESRM 300 Principles of Sustainability (Minor)

“Overview of principles of sustainability, including discussion of current literature,
presentation, and discussion with practitioners, and methods for balancing social,

Maria Carlson | Individual Study Plan

economic, and ecological consequences of proposed policies and actions. Students

develop a plan to further their studies in environmental sustainability.”

This course will teach me about current topics in sustainability which I can draw upon for
ideas for a senior project and potential careers in the field. This class will broaden my
knowledge of balancing the 3 principals of sustainability, which include social, economic,
and environmental bases.

Spring 2017
CEP 303 Social Structures and Processes (Core)
“Investigates use of formal and informal social structures and processes within context of
community and environment. Looks at patterns and institutions of social organization and
relationships among different sectors. Issues of interrelatedness, citizenship, knowledge,
and communication.”

This course focuses on the study of community organization. I will learn about how to
develop community decision-making processes, create connections between people with
different ideologies, and how to motivate individuals into action.

GEOG 360 Principles of GIS Mapping (Methods)

“Origins, development, and methods of cartographic mapping. Principles of data
representation and map design for thematic mapping and spatial analysis. Introduction to
principles of geographic information systems.”

I took this class to re-solidify my knowledge of Geographic Information Systems and allow
me to continue practicing spatial analysis using the ArcGIS and ArcMap programs.

ESRM 320 Marketing and Management from a Sustainability Perspective

(Minor/Methods)
“Introduction to business concepts relating to marketing, human resource management,
small businesses and entrepreneurship, and economics in the context of environmental
resource management.”

Economics is important to understand the realm of environmental problems and why

businesses or governments are often resistant to change. Often, sustainable approaches to
business development are thought to be too costly to implement. This class has taught me
the value of sustainability to businesses, including positive corporate image, higher
employee retention, and great customer loyalty.

Maria Carlson | Individual Study Plan

Autumn 2017
Anthropology Rome: The Culture and Politics of Food in Italy (Diversity)
“This program will give students the opportunity to examine the organization, politics,
economy, and culture of the local food systems in Italy. Students will explore the city of
Rome, the nation of Italy, the European Union, and the globe, taking advantage of the
proximity of the world headquarters of the UN FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization)
by attending World Food Day activities on October 16th and learning about how issues
such as global hunger are being debated at the center of global food governance. The
program includes trips to Umbria, Tuscany, and Tenuto di Spannocchia.”

This study abroad experience gave me the experience of living in a country with a
different culture and societal discourse different from my own. This study abroad was
particularly focused on experiential learning by going on multiple farm stays, taking
hands-on cooking lessons, touring community gardens, and volunteering with immigrant
pop-up camps and urban gleaning projects. By examining different cultures and the way
they solve problems, their approach the environmental policy, and how they incorporate
community concerns in their processes, I will be able to learn from and drawn upon these
tactics. For the focus of my study abroad, I hope to be on a program that looks at social
and environmental problems together. I want to see how people live, understand their
values, and how these cultures are connected to or different from the culture I come from.
Lastly, I want to challenge myself to live differently, become more independent, and take
this opportunity to see more of the world.

ANTH 499: Undergraduate Research (Diversity)

This research project focused on the immigrant experience in Italy, including information
on where immigrants come from, why they travel to Italy and further into the EU, systemic
challenges in the European immigration processing system, and how civilians in Italy have
stepped up to provide services to immigrants which would otherwise be non-existent. Part
of this research is informed by personal experience volunteering with the Baobab—a
civilian run transient immigrant camp in industrial Rome, where meals, shelter, and
services are provided to individuals who would otherwise have no where else to go.

Maria Carlson | Individual Study Plan

Winter 2018
CEP 461 Ethics and Identity (Core)
“Examination of personal, societal, vocational, environmental, planning ethics. Readings
and discourse on ethical foundations for public life. Develops understanding of ecological
context, moral responsibility, self-awareness. Constructs positive, diverse view of
humanity, environment regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, beliefs.”

In this class, I hope to learn about planning in the context of community requirements and
environmentally sustainable goals. In creating a space for a large group of people, it is
important to know how to incorporate their ideas into that space while also meeting
environmental standards. This type of planning is inclusive and creates positive social and
environmental outcomes.

CEP 491 Senior Project Prep Seminar II: Methods and Actualization (Core)
“Focuses on implementing the senior project/capstone, including revisions and updates as
seen fit.”

During this course, I will take the time to review my senior project, while developing a
stronger focus on what my end goals will be and creating an action plan to achieve it. I
hope to build on the feedback I receive from other to get perspective outside of my own
and ensure that an audience would understand the message of my project.

ESRM 400 Natural Resource Conflict Management (Minor/Methods)

“Introduction to the causes, dynamics, and consequences of natural resource conflicts as
well as the range of procedural interventions used to manage conflict. Specific cases of
environmental conflict and alternative dispute resolution procedures are examined.
Emphasis on developing skills to effectively analyze, manage, and resolve natural resource
conflicts.”

This course will expose me to the dynamics of the environmental discourse, including the
political processes and regulations that are central to resource management and how to
proactively create solutions that appeal parties involved. Through this course, I hope to
develop a basis for understanding natural resource issues, and begin to explore potential
new sources for conflict solutions.

ENVIR 495 Farm Lunch Seminar (Minor)

Maria Carlson | Individual Study Plan

Spring 2018
CEP 462 Community and Environment (Core)
“Capstone quarter merges core seminars, disciplinary courses in major, community field
experiences for mastery of personal knowledge and skills. Reflection and synthesis of
themes in major; engagement with contemporary issues. Compares theoretical definitions
of community and environment with individual philosophies and knowledge within
thoughtful, applied context.”

During this course, I hope to synthesize all the material I have learned through my
undergraduate education, and relate the knowledge, experience, and skills I have gained
to critically examine current problems. This reflection time will also allow me to evaluate
my own learning goals, and confirm that I achieved the educational goals I set for myself.

CEP 446 Internship (Core)

“Connects core and individual courses with fieldwork. Group and individual readings
develop understanding of how students' internships and field placements constitute
particular element of community and environmental planning. Explores how what we do
for a living is part of our lives as citizens and public service.”

This course will allow me to reflect on my internship experience, including what I learned
about careers in the field I am interested in, the education I need to get there, and the
experience I must have to advance in an entry position. I will also develop my interview,
networking, and presentation skills to be confident when I enter the professional realm.

Internship
For my internship, I worked with Anchor QEA, an environmental consulting firm that
works on projects involving engineers, planners, biologists, landscape architects, and
archeologists. My designated project was to work on GIS cataloguing and mapping
finished floor elevations of structures in a floodplain zone along the Chehalis River, which
would be used for an economic analysis of an Environmental Impact Statement. I also

Maria Carlson | Individual Study Plan

worked on delineating wetland features in GIS, visited multiple fieldwork sites, wrote up
summary reports of findings, and observed multiple public meetings regarding projects
that Anchor helped develop. Through these experiences, I learned the scientific and
political discourse of environmental projects, including how to manage competing
interests of individuals, agencies, and public groups, planning for required permits, public
meetings, document review, and project funding.

Senior Project
For my senior project, I will exercise my knowledge of sustainable development by
creating a report on the implementation of phytoremediation in a specific site to solve the
problem of industrial, urban, or agricultural pollution. I plan to incorporate economic,
community, and policy strategies, incorporating the pillars of sustainability into the
phytoremediation project. Speaking to the concerns of community members, I would
conduct surveys to receive their input, study current policy measures and how
phytoremediation would enhance the outcomes of the goals of the policy, and address the
economic impact of implementation. Overall, I want to create a compelling argument for
using phytoremediation as a standard way to reduce and treat pollution.